Saturday, March 18, 2023

Six In The Morning Saturday 18 March 2023

 

Imran Khan court hearing cancelled after clashes in Pakistan capital

By Samuel Horti in London and Caroline Davies in Islamabad
BBC News


A court in Islamabad has cancelled a hearing into charges former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan sold state gifts following clashes between his supporters and police.

Police said Mr Khan's backers threw stones and fired tear gas near the court complex.

The former cricketer-turned-politician has since set off back to his home in Lahore, which police raided in his absence and made arrests.

He denies the charges against him.

The chaotic scenes saw Mr Khan unable to enter the court before the judge agreed that he could mark his attendance and return home.


Aviation chiefs rejected measures to curb climate impact of jet vapours

Airline industry claimed science not ‘robust’ enough to implement new controls to combat climate warming caused by vapour trails

Airlines and airports opposed measures to combat global warming caused by jet vapour trails that evidence suggests account for more than half of the aviation industry’s climate impact, new documents reveal.

The industry argued in government submissions that the science was not “robust” enough to justify reduction targets for these non-CO2 emissions. Scientists say the climate impact of vapour trails, or contrails, has been known for more than two decades, with one accusing the industry of a “typical climate denialist strategy”.


Vatican closes embassy in Nicaragua after Ortega's crackdown

The Vatican has closed its embassy in Nicaragua after the country's government proposed suspending diplomatic relations


Nicole Winfield

The Vatican said Saturday it had closed its embassy in Nicaragua after the country's government proposed suspending diplomatic relations, the latest episode in a yearslong crackdown on the Catholic Church by the administration of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.

The Vatican's representative to Managua, Monsignor Marcel Diouf, also left the country Friday, bound for Costa Rica, a Vatican official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Vatican action came a week after the Nicaraguan government proposed suspending relations with the Holy See, and a year after Nicaragua forced the papal ambassador at the time to leave.


Australia: 'Millions' of dead fish clogging Darling River

Environmental authorities blamed the mass deaths on low levels of oxygen in Australia's second-largest river amid elevated temperatures. This is the third mass die-off in the area since 2018.

Millions of dead fish have been clogging the Darling River in Australia this week.

The ABC public broadcaster reported on Saturday that state fisheries officers had been sent to assess the issue.

Environmental authorities in the state of New South Wales blamed the mass kill on low levels of oxygen in Australia's second-largest river.

"We are seeing tens of kilometres where there is fish really as far as the eye can see, so it's quite a confronting scene," New South Wales government fisheries spokesman Cameron Lay told the ABC.

Footage posted to Twitter by public broadcaster SBS showed a boat navigating through thousands of dead fish covering the river's surface.


French unions see threat of Yellow Vest rerun over Macron's retirement push

French President Emmanuel Macron's move to force through his deeply unpopular pension reform without a vote in parliament could rekindle social unrest reminiscent of the Yellow Vest movement, union leaders and analysts have warned as protests continue to sweep the country.

French police on Saturday banned protests on Paris's Place de la Concorde across from parliament and the nearby Champs Elysees after two nights of unrest.

"Due to serious risks of disturbances to public order... all gatherings on the public thoroughfare in Place de la Concorde and its surroundings, as well as in the area of the Champs Elysees, are banned," the capital's police said.

Opposition lawmakers have filed two motions of no confidence in the government to be debated in parliament on Monday afternoon, according to parliamentary sources. They hope to garner enough support to topple the cabinet and repeal the law to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.


UK Home Secretary visits Rwanda to discuss controversial deportation scheme


Published 7:44 AM EDT, Sat March 18, 2023


British Home Secretary Suella Braverman arrived in Rwanda on Saturday to discuss a controversial agreement which will see the UK deport asylum seekers deemed to have arrived illegally to the African nation.

The scheme is mired in legal difficulties – no one has yet been deported – and Braverman’s visit has been criticized as she invited journalists from right-wing titles to accompany her, excluding liberal ones.

Before departing Braverman reaffirmed her commitment to the scheme, saying it would “act as a powerful deterrent against dangerous and illegal journeys,” PA reported.






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